Footballers who have won the most trophies in club football
When FC Barcelona beat Sevilla 5-4 to win the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday night, the Catalan club won its fourth trophy of the year – on course for a sextuple last won under Pep Guardiola in 2009. In doing so, both Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta joined Xavi as the most decorated players in Spanish football.
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The Super Cup trophy was also a landmark for both Iniesta and Messi as they now have a trophy haul of 25 major titles – counting both domestic and international trophies. But it only just puts them in the top 10 in the list of players with most trophies won in club football.
Ryan Giggs leads the pack with 34 trophies for Manchester United. It includes an astounding 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and nine Community Shields in England. He has also won two Champions League titles and a Club World Cup in a career that spanned an incredible 24 seasons. The Welsh legend scored in almost every Premier League season except his final season after which he retired at the age of 40.
Although 31-year-old Iniesta may not win another 10 club trophies before he retires, Messi (still only 28) has a huge opportunity to top the list in the future. The Argentine is in the form of his life and can easily play top level football for another five to six years at least.
Second on the list is Vitor Baia, who has played for Barcelona, but also won trophies with Porto. The Portuguese goalkeeper won 31 trophies in his career (26 with Porto and 5 with Barcelona) – the highlight being the Champions League triumph in 2004. He won 11 Portuguese league titles and one La Liga title in a 21-year career.
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Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish is tied in second place with Baia. His 31 trophies include six league titles with Liverpool and four with Celtic. He has also won the Champions League three times with the Merseyside club. Combining his trophies won as a manager takes him closer to 50 trophies in his career.
FIFA Player of the Century Pele is fourth on the list with 28 titles won with Brazilian club Santos and the New York Cosmos. The three-time World Cup winner with Brazil played for 22 years and scored more than a 1000 goals.
European journeyman Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fifth having won titles in four different countries. Starting his career in Ajax, he then moved to Italy before playing in Spain and now plying his trade in France. League titles follow Ibrahimovic wherever he goes and he has won 12 league titles (although the two won with Juventus were stripped after the Calciopoli scandal). Surprisingly, the Swedish striker has never won the Champions League.
AC Milan and Serie A legend Paolo Maldini also has 26 titles, five of which are Champions League trophies. He has won seven league titles with Milan. The defender was also unlucky to finish Champions League runners-up on three occasions and Serie A runners-up thrice in a career spanning 25 seasons.
Other players who have 25 trophies include Dani Alves, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar. Players who fell short of 25 trophies include legends such as Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and Liverpool centre-back Alan Hansen. Both players won 23 trophies in their career
Among the players who have won 21 trophies include Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano (who won five consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid), Johan Cruyff (Ajax, Barcelona, Feyenoord) and former Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who joined Manchester United this summer.
Clarence Seedorf, who has won 4 Champions League title with three different teams (Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan – twice) has 21 trophies, the same as Brazilian legend Cafu. Two more full backs have 20 trophies each – Manchester United’s Gary Neville and Brazil’s Roberto Carlos, who won trophies with Palmeiras, Real Madrid and Fenerbahce.
Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta win their 25th trophy with Barcelona, equalling Xavi's record. #fcblive— Infostrada Sports (@InfostradaLive) August 11, 2015
WORLD RECORD - Barca is now the club with the most international titles in football history (21). Surpassing Madrid, Milan and Al-Ahly— MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) August 11, 2015
PLAYERS WITH AT LEAST 25 CLUB TROPHIES (Active players in bold)#PLAYERCLUB(S)TROPHIES1Ryan GiggsManchester United342Vítor BaíaFC Porto, Barcelona31 Kenny DalglishLiverpool, Celtic314PeleSantos, New York Cosmos285Zlatan IbrahimovicAjax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG26 Paolo MaldiniAC Milan267Lionel MessiBarcelona25 Andres IniestaBarcelona25 Dani AlvesSevilla, Barcelona25 Xavi HernandezBarcelona25 Paul ScholesManchester United25 Edwin van der SarAjax, Manchester United25